Papuans rally for independence

Papuans rally for independence

news.theage.com.au

Hundreds of Papuans have protested in Jayapura rejecting the region's special autonomy within Indonesia and demanding a referendum on self-determination.

"Independence for Papua, reject special autonomy," they shouted.
"Indonesia the coloniser, Indonesia the oppressor, Indonesia the robber."

They also called for the upper house of tribal leaders called the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) to be disbanded.

"The MRP had done nothing to improve the welfare of Papuans. Our people are poor in

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I havent really been up to date on political issues around Indonesia, so feel free to fill me in.

From what I understand from the article, Papuans are pretty ticked at the Papua People's Assembly and Indonesia because they havent done much to help the citizens.

The protesters say that their rights havent improved and the Indonesian military is tyrannical.

The article says that Indonesian soldiers have tortured civilians, and also dont let foreign media and aid workers into Papua.

Edit - Im not sure about the numbers of protesters. The first paragraph in the article says "hundreds" protested, while the 2nd paragraph says "over 1000" activists.

news.theage.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

well, it seems to be spreading, large and small... the impact of the global economic distress is showing up everywhere... I suspect it won't be long before it really does start to get ugly.. sad really

Originally posted by buni11687
I havent really been up to date on political issues around Indonesia, so feel free to fill me in.

The short of it is, lots of separatist movements on the various islands vs. an authoritarian government. Each of the islands is individually wealthy in terms of natural resources. Add in a recent tide of Islamic fundamentalism (likely a direct result of the initial conflict) and you get the basic idea. it's not exactly a chaotic place, and is far from a "failed state" by any measure - but it's got some standing troubles

reply to post by buni11687


Gotta love the Papuan Peoples. They are as "Fair Dinkum" as they come. Thumbs up to them!. But they are one of many Indonesian communities that are at at odds with Jakarta or Djakarta as some call it. Look at Aceh province or even Bali they are having the same sort of feelings!

This is not good for Australia. On the news here could have been 2 years ago (can't remember exactly when) the leader of the Australian defense force was saying we needed to upgrade our military capacity to help deal with a major Asian conflict in the next 10 - 15 years where we (Australia) would only be involved as separators or peace keepers. A quick word to military people I know believe he was referring to the breakup of Indonesia, which they personally believed would happen around that time. Hopefully these predictions have not come early.

Years ago I used to know a girl who is the daughter of a British diplomat whom was stationed over there. From what I remember her telling me, if this movement for independence has popular support amongst Papuans, the Indonesian Govt would be well advised to give it to them... or, as they say, there's gonna be killin'. The gruesome kind.

From what I understand currently, Indonesia is pretty much a fascist state that depends upon foreign, mainly western, companies for the exploitation of natural resources to keep the regime in funds needed to impose control. If those funds are drying up, there's an opportunity for the likes of China & Russia to fund & arm separatists, just like the USA do - divide & conquer, just from a distance these days. Hey, if you can get a better deal out of Beijing than Jakarta, why wouldn't you take free AK47s & RPGs? They've proved devastatingly effective elsewhere...

If I were an Australian, I'd be wondering why my country had agreed to buy naval upgrades from the USA, when building them yourselves is not only possible but better for your own bloody economy? Just what is the agenda down there? Why have India bought a US warship too? Er... could this possibly be another US attempt to get other people to fight & pay for their corporate battles for them? You know, like dragging NATO into Afghanistan...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This has happened before , there was a token gesture made by both the Indonesian and Australian diplomats in front of the Media .As soon as the cameras were turned off the Indonesian millitary arrived in trucks and slaughtered hundreds of the locals in front of the Australian Diplomats .This story has never been made public and the Diplomats turned a blind eye ! I know this as one of those diplomats was a personal friend of mine, sadly I have lost contact with this individual or I could give you more with a simple phone call . Politics is a dirty bisuness .